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Mayor Barkat: Jerusalem Parking Lot to Remain Closed


closed.jpgJerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat has decided the controversial municipal parking lot will remain closed this Shabbos and next as City Hall seeks to arrive a mutually acceptable solution with the Eida Chareidis. It appears City Hall has complied with a police department suggestion to keep the parking facility closed until a solution is reached to avoid confrontations between the chareidi community and police. The mayor has given negotiations a two-week extension.

Jerusalem Police Chief Ilan Franco on Thursday called on the mayor to consider closing the lot to permit continued dialogue with chareidi leaders and thereby, preventing stormy Shabbos protests in the capital. Franco also turned to rabbonim to do their part to avoid violence.

As a result of the decision, the Friday night kabolas Shabbos in the Bar Ilan area have been canceled, as well as the Shabbos protest at City Hall. The secularists however, The Forum for a Free Jerusalem, will hold a Shabbos protest at Kikar Safra City Hall demanding that Mayor Nir Barkat open the parking lot to accommodate Shabbos visitors to the downtown area as planned, and not to fold under pressure from the city’s chareidi population.

Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz denounced the decision which he calls “capitulation to chareidi threats of violence”.

City Hall has released a statement that if a solution is not reached in the next two weeks, the parking lot will open as planned, and police will be compelled to maintain order, making it clear that the two-week delay will not in any way cancel the city’s plan to open the parking lot, using non-Jews, to accommodate the many visitors who travel to Jerusalem on Shabbos.

At least 6,000 members of Jerusalem’s chareidi community took part in last Shabbos’ protests and police are trying to prevent another difficult Shabbos, with intelligence reports predicting a significantly larger crowd this Shabbos.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)



4 Responses

  1. Menachem, Maran has said there is no such thing as ‘compromise’ on Shabbos. NO PARKING.

    Think about it before you post again…

  2. I’m sure the Gedolim realize that its not merely a question about parking. The problem is that an open parking lot, even operated by a non-Jew, even (especially) not charging any fee, – is an incentive for people to drive into Yirushalayim on Shabbas. THAT is chilul Shabbas. PLUS, once you have more people driving in to the city on Shabbas, more businesses will want to (and lobby the government to be allowed to) be open on Shabbas to serve those who drove in. Before you know it, there will (chalila) be no feeling of Shabbas in Yirushalayim, and Yirushalyim will be more like Tel Aviv or Haifa!!!

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